Are you going back [to Iraq] anytime soon?
I don’t want to go back.
Really?
Yeah.
… I think once the Americans leave [the Iraqis] will slaughter each other.
This from Fox News Channel War Correspondent Steve Harrigan today on Dayside .
He also said Iraq is “not a story anymore”… people, the media, are losing interest. “It’s repetitive”. What a wonderfully terrible commentary on the attention span of Western citizens…
In contrast, this was his feeling after the January 2005 elections:
I underestimated the Iraqi people, and I think a lot of people did.
This could really be the start of something, and I think it’s great for the Iraqis, it’s great for us to see the Iraqis. It’s great for the US military too. It is a hard slog out there for those guys. Every step they take, even delivering food, they could get blown up.I think they’ve got a long way to go. But one thing is for sure, is that just like the voters today, they keep coming. The Iraqi policemen have been slaughtered over the last few months, but there’s no shortage of applicants. They’re getting killed, but they keep coming.
I think that after todays events, it is no longer up to the United States to determine when foreign troops leave Iraqi soil. I think, within the next 6 months, one of two things will happen… one good, one bad.
Good: The Iraqi parliament.. driven by an effort to reconcile difference between Sunni and Shia groups.. will formally call for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraqi soil. The last boot will leave by this time next year.
Bad: The terrorist groups will continue to bait each side. The various Sunni, Shia and Kurdish militias will come into direct conflict with each other. The Americans and British will be caught in the middle. The Iraqi government will collapse. A ‘high-intensity’ civil war will break out. American and British troops will not leave Iraq proper, but will be confined to their bases. They will not want to take sides. Eventually, they will leave. And Iraq will descend into civil war.
I am sad for Iraq and Iraqis.
I am sad that it seems much more likely now that there will be more bloodshed before there is more peace.
I am sad that so many Americans thought they were doing Iraq a favour when they advocated Regime Change in Iraq.
War is a sad thing… I guess I better just get used to it.